What was common about the following books to me?

The Oaths of Vayuputras

The Krishna Key

Bankerupt

Inferno

They were all best sellers, but they were all equally boring.

Inferno, I had to skip atleast 75% of the book to reach the end.

Oaths, I didn’t even complete it.

Krishna Key, very predictable, weak plot.

Bankerupt, I completed without skipping a page, not before noticing many logical flaws, and the story was the same as the author’s earlier books. Looked like this was written in a hurry and the climax and the lead to it was bad.

In between all of this I read The Fall.

I have different set of standards when I read and write. As a reader, the standards are pretty high. I read majorly for the story, and nothing else. If the plot isn’t interesting to read, then I start looking at the number of pages left to be read.

On that note, The Fall was a masala mix. It had a plot, murders, clues, puzzle, romance, investigation and all. To me, most importantly, it was fast paced and an easy read.

Is it better than all the above four books? Yes, to an extent. It also has its own flaws. But this is only Vijay’s first novel.

The things I liked in the book.

He took great interest in this book and wrote this in a very short span of time. He completed it and published it. Only his manager can tell how was his performance at work during those days. 

The cover design was refreshing.

The place of the events in the book, being in France gives a grand feel to the book.

It starts with a murder. So you are hooked up to the story from page one.

The poems gives a different look to the book. For someone who doesn’t read poems, it was easy to skip those pages (pun intended).

For some reason, the thought of the characters and plot kept waving around me for some time, even after completing the book.

What could have been better.

The Puzzle was good. But it’s link to the story is weak. What is the probability of the solution of a complicated number puzzle leads to someone’s bank account number or social security number?

Why should the story happen in 1983? I assume a reason, may be if this story was to happen today, then it would have been easy to crack the case. Vijay wanted to complicate the investigation may be.

Why is the story set in France?

The subplot or the reason for the murders was weak. That too when you say that that particular story written as a book is a bestseller.

Few of the murders are artificially linked.

Final take: If you are looking for a pacy read, go for it. (Link)